A collection of newsworthy information as reported from newspapers, magazines, and blogs.

Monday, February 22, 2010

The President’s Proposal puts American families and small business owners in control of their own health care. | The White House

“No Republican is going to go back to his home district and say, ‘You know what? I was wrong about the health care bill.’ ”

Republicans have shown little interest in negotiating a big compromise. Remember how Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, kept moving the goal posts last summer? This is basic game theory: the better Mr. Obama looks, the worse the Republicans’ chances are in the midterm elections. Philosophy plays a role, too. Some Republicans believe it’s not the government’s job to help people get insurance.

Feb. 24: Rachel Maddow points out that health insurance companies don't care about the well-being of Americans and shouldn't be expected to because they are businesses so their goal is making money. Because American health care is a profit-making system, not a health care system, the incentives are wrong to provide Americans with adequate care.

Feb. 24: Senator BarbBoxer joins Rachel Maddow to set the record straight on the difference between the so-called "nuclear option" and the Congressional process known as reconciliation, and call out Republicans for deliberately using those terms interchangeably to cause confusion.